A Telford man has been sentenced to probation after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals stemming from the death of his friend’s 10-year-old beagle “Annie.”
As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, 28-year-old Kerion Youells entered the no contest plea last week in exchange for the dismissal of a more serious felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals – causing serious bodily injury or death, according to a report by Carl Hessler Jr. at the Pottstown Mercury. Youells received a sentence of two years’ probation, according to Hessler’s report.
Youells is prohibited from acquiring any additional animals as part of the sentence, however he will be allowed to keep any animals he currently owns, the report states.
A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt; rather, the plea is an admission that prosecutors likely had enough evidence to secure a guilty verdict at trial.
According to the criminal complaint, the investigation began on April 16, 2020, after a friend of Youells’ informed Telford Police that her beagle had died after being left in Youells’ care overnight. The friend said Youells allegedly confessed to striking the dog multiple times after it had bitten him, and he then locked the dog in the bathroom, according to investigators.
When Youells let the dog out of the bathroom, he claimed that the dog was acting strange but he didn’t believe anything was wrong, police said. Youells later claimed that he awoke at 2 a.m. and found the dog dead, according to charging documents.
Police said they found no evidence of Youells being bitten by the dog, and a necropsy of the dog concluded that the dog died “as a result of severe hemorrhage from hepatic fracture due to trauma.”
Youells was arrested and charged on March 8, 2021, court records show.
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Former Hilltown Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child
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